Tuesday, November 04, 2014
An open letter to Nobel Prize Laureate Ms. Malal Yousafza
UNRWA operates in the shadow of Hamas, which has threatened UN staff in Gaza, firebombed mixed-gender summer camps hosted by UNRWA for Palestinian children and attempted to assassinate the former UNRWA chief in Gaza, John Ging, twice.‘Born in Jerusalem’ passport case divides justices
Gaza’s education system is essentially controlled by Hamas, which has dominated UNRWA’s workers’ union for years. In the last union elections on September 2012, the “Professional List,” led by Hamas operative Suhail al-Hindi, won all 11 of the seats that were allocated to the teachers’ sector.
You are probably aware that Article 43 Hamas’ Education Law, passed in April of 2013, spells out Hamas’s educational philosophy – which specifically prohibits private schools and internationally run ones (such as those under UNRWA) from “receiving donations or aid aimed at normalization with the Zionist occupation or propagating any Zionist activity.” This prohibition precludes any curriculum containing Holocaust Studies or educating Palestinian students about peaceful coexistence with Israeli Jews or mention of the many productive collaborations that already exist between Israelis and Palestinians in environmental and other areas.
Hamas has not only subverted any hope instituting a peaceful curriculum in Gaza schools; it has systematically commandeered UNRWA school facilities and turned many into military installations – and targets.
Middle Eastern politics infused the Supreme Court’s arguments Monday over a disputed law that would allow Americans born in Jerusalem to list their birthplace as Israel on their US passports.Eugene Kontorovich: Zivotofsky is not about recognition (II)
The justices appeared divided over whether the law should be struck down as unconstitutional, as the Obama administration wants, or put into effect as a result of a lawsuit filed by the parents of Jerusalem-born Menachem Zivotofsky.
Twelve-year-old Menachem, a baby when the case began in 2003, and his parents sat through the hour-long argument that saw justices wrestle with questions of the president’s primacy in matters of foreign affairs and the effect the court’s eventual decision could have on simmering tensions between Israelis and Palestinians. (h/t Jewess)
Oral Arguments in Zivotofsky v. Kerry: ‘Core Powers’ Analysis And Text
Permalink to Two Quick Thoughts on Today’s Argument in Zivotofsky
SCOTUS Blog
Obama 2008: Israel can keep its undivided capital of Jerusalem, if it likes it
Australian Attorney-General George Brandis Rejects IDF-Terror Group Equivalence
In the recent episode of ABC’s Q&A, Australian Attorney-General George Brandis responds to the question of a Muslim audience member trying to equate the IDF with ISIS.
Let’s just say the audience was not thrilled with his response.
The Left Urges Israel to Violate Press Freedom
Once in a while a real "human rights" issue comes along that demands concerned protest from friends of Israel. In this case, however, the usual critics are silent, because the target whose rights are being threatened is a right-wing conservative, not a Palestinian terrorist hiding behind women and children.US court asks Belgium to compel terror suspect’s testimony
This week, the Israeli Knesset will consider a proposed ban on the selling of free--as in, no cover price--newspapers to the general public.
Theoretically, the ban would apply to all newspapers, and is a form of protectionism for the Israeli print media. In practice, however, the bill would apply only to one newspaper--namely, Israel Hayom, which is backed by American casino magnate (and Republican Party megadonor) Shelon Adelson. Israel Hayom is unapologetic in its support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and also delivers a fairly good news read in the process.
The result is that other Israel newspapers were being outcompeted--and other Israeli politicians are not being heard, or so they claim. Thus it is that Israel's left-liberals--who ought to be the steadfast sentinels of freedom of the press--are cheering the "Israel Hayom bill" enthusiastically. Tzipi Livni, the justice minister--and J Street favorite in the U.S.--is fully behind the bill, arguing that Israel Hayom is not journalism but propaganda.
J Street has nothing to say about the bill, nor does B'Tselem, the left-wing Israeli human rights organization so frequently cited in the western media. Both lead today (Monday, Nov. 3) with protests for the human rights of Palestinians.
Judge Shira A. Scheindlin of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York has requested that Belgium compel Said al-Shurafa and his wife Reem to testify by the end of the month in a suit revolving around a 2006 bombing in Tel Aviv.NGO Monitor: Amnesty International´s Invented Gaza War Accusations
Said al-Shurafa is a central figure in the lawsuit brought against Bank of China by US citizens Sheryl and Tuly Wultz after their 16-year-old son Daniel was killed in the suicide attack.
An affidavit sworn out by an Israeli official in 2009 alleges that Shurafa was an operative for Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas and served as the linchpin in a trade-based money laundering scheme carried out through a Bank of China account. According to the suit, millions of dollars were routed through Bank of China accounts to finance attacks that killed Daniel and other civilians.
In advance of a report on the 2014 Gaza War to be released tomorrow (Nov. 5) by Amnesty International, NGO Monitor emphasizes Amnesty’s lack of professional investigatory methodology and documented bias against Israel. The report is expected to repeat the standard accusations of war crimes, including claims that the Israeli military purposefully targeted civilians. The charges will again be made despite Amnesty’s lack of access to military intelligence and other vital decision-making information necessary to support its politicized allegations. NGO Monitor urges journalists to approach all such factual and legal claims with caution.UN Calls Maccabi TA Player Response To Fan’s Attack ‘Disproportionate’ (satire)
“Amnesty’s claims had no validity when they were first made, without evidence, during the fighting, and they have no more credibility now, despite the façade of ‘research’ and ‘investigations’.” said Prof. Gerald Steinberg, president of NGO Monitor. “For many years, we have shown that Amnesty’s ‘reports’ on Israel lack credibility and are based on double standards that reflect a radical ideological agenda under the façade of universal human rights.”
In last night’s match between Tel Aviv’s rival HaPoel and Maccabi clubs, a fan of HaPoel ran onto the field and began kicking and kitting Eran Zahavi, who responded with blows of his own. A referee issued Zahavi a red card, as the game rules prohibit a player from getting involved in on-field violence. As Zahavi and other players protested the call, other fans stormed onto the field, forcing the officials to call the game at 33 minutes and leaving the score tied at 1. Dozens of fans, including the attacker, were arrested.Netanyahu: Abbas adding fuel to fire in Jerusalem
The United Nations Security Council immediately convened and quickly passed a motion condemning the player for his disproportionate response. The Council further denounced Maccabi for flagrantly displaying yellow jerseys when playing their red-shirted opponents, displaying what the Council called, “an appalling lack of sensitivity” to the wishes of the thousands of HaPoel partisans present in the stands.
Netanyahu reiterated angry comments he made Sunday night in response to a laudatory condolence letter Abbas sent to the family of Mut’az Hijazi, the suspected would-be Palestinian assassin of Temple Mount activist Rabbi Yehudah Glick. Hijazi was killed by security forces hours after the attack.Likud MK: Glick Shooter Wants Jews Out of Temple Mount
“At a time when I’m doing everything possible to calm the situation, Abu Mazen [Abbas] is adding fuel to the fire,” Netanyahu said at a meeting with members of his Likud party Monday.
“He sent a letter of encouragement and support to the family of the terrorist who tried to murder Yehudah Glick. In doing so, he’s supporting and encouraging others to commit similar despicable acts,” he added.
Despite Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's pleas to “calm matters down” as regards the Temple Mount, or perhaps because of them, Deputy Transport Minister Tzipi Hotovely ascended the Temple Mount Tuesday and stated that the status quo on the Mount must change.Watch: Hundreds Pray at Rachel's Tomb
"The Temple Mount must become a place of Jewish worship again,” she said. “The attempt to assassinate Glick was meant to push us out of the Mount. The response must be the strengthening of the Jewish presence on the Temple Mount.”
“This reality has to change,” she added. “Jews' prayers must be heard on this Mount. This is the holiest place for the Jewish people and the status quo must change.
“I am here today in order to effect this change along with other members of the government,” declared Hotovely. “Together, from above and below, through a large movement of people who come to this mountain , and the understanding that as long as Jews are threatened for the very act of ascending to this place, the Israeli government must do everything to change the status quo.”
Hundreds gathered at the tomb of Biblical matriarch Rachel in Beit-Lechem (Bethlehem) on Tuesday, to mark the anniversary of her death on the 11th of the Hebrew month of Cheshvan.Mr. and Mrs. Hijazi, Your Son Died for Nothing
Worshipers flocked to the tomb to pray and sing, and more were expected to attend throughout the day to say prayers in her merit. Women, especially, come to pray to the matriarch whose life mirrors many of their problems.
Rachel died in childbirth on the road to Israel, travelling with her husband Jacob, his wives and sons and her first son Joseph, born after years of childlessness. It is said that she remained buried in Beit-Lechem (Bethlehem), instead of in the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hevron, in order to be a sign of hope for the Jewish people after they were expelled from Israel during the destruction of the first Temple, as they were brought to Babylon.
In anger you raised your child; in anger and hate, he died. I cannot offer you my hope that things will change, that other Palestinian parents will now realize the futility of teaching your young to value and desire death and martyrdom.Is Rabbi Yehuda Glick “Right-Wing?”
Perhaps, rather than condolences, what I should offer you is my pity - not just for your son's death, but for your leading him to it.
And I will sign this letter not with my name, but with that of my people, Israel. This is the message Israel should deliver to you and yours. Ultimately, at the end of the day, we pity you.
The New York Times referred to him as a “Far-right activist.” The BBC and LA Times labeled him a “Right-wing Jewish activist.” The Sydney Morning Herald calls him a “Far-right religious activist.” Throughout the media, there is an unusual consistency with the terms being used to describe Rabbi Yehuda Glick, who was the victim of an attempted assassination last week. But this is just another example of the media’s using terms that fit a preset narrative rather than the reality.Imagine Jews and Arabs praying side by side on the Temple mount
The reality of Rabbi Glick’s views is quite different than the way he is being described. He is a proponent of the right of Jews to pray on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The Temple Mount is considered the holiest site in Judaism and the third holiest in Islam. Those familiar with the Rabbi know that his goal is not to supplant Muslim prayer in that place.
East Jerusalem should be the symbol of peace and co-existence. Muslims, for their part, should not object to allowing Jews to pray on al-Haram al-Sharif or the Temple Mount. Both the Prophet Mohamed and Caliph Omar Ibn-el-Khattab, who occupied Jerusalem and prayed at the Temple, acknowledged the Jewish affiliation to this holy site.Abbas glorifies shooter of Rabbi Glick
It is not apocalyptic to imagine both Jews and Muslims sharing the Temple Mount-Haram al-Sharif and praying side by side at this holy place. Such an understanding regarding the status of the Temple Mount should be concluded with Arab leaders and should be added to the Arab Peace initiative.
The author is an Arab-citizen of Israel, assistant professor of international relations and fellow at the Azrieli Institute of Israel Studies, Concordia University in Montreal, Canada.
In a condolence letter to the family of terrorist Mutaz Hijazi, who was killed following his attempted murder of Rabbi Yehuda Glick last week, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas referred to the terrorist as a “Shahid” - a Martyr who “rose to Heaven while defending our people’s rights and holy places.” Abbas called Israel's apprehending and killing the terrorist in a shoot-out an “abominable crime... by the killing and terror gangs of the Israeli occupation army.”Fatah urges Palestinians to block Jews from Temple Mount Wednesday
Abbas’ advisor, Sultan Abu Al-Einein, glorified the terrorist on his Facebook page:
“[I] was not able to meet with your mother in order to kiss her hands and her forehead for feeding you courage and bravery from her breast, making you the revolutionary who has shortened our path to freedom. Mutaz, Allah has honored you with Martyrdom (Shahada), for which all men yearn. Your bullets were a beacon [on] a path that had become dark, the light of which will continue to shine for years to come.”
[Facebook page of Abbas’ advisor and Fatah Central Committee member Sultan Abu Al-Einein, Nov. 3, 2014]
The movement posted a notice on its official Facebook page Tuesday titled “call to arms” and directed at “all Jerusalem residents and Arab Israelis.” It warned of plans for a purported “consolidated storming of Al-Aqsa a week after the assassination attempt of the extremist rabbi Yehudah Glick.” The notice included a translation of a Hebrew poster which calls on Jews to flock to the Temple Mount Wednesday morning in a state of ritual purity and with no leather shoes, “for the sake and health of rabbi Yehudah Glick.”Whitewashing Abbas Leads to Violence
“The terrorist sought to murder Yehudah and halt his blessed and vigorous activities for the return of Israel to the Temple Mount. We will not succumb to terror, we will not let terror win,” the poster declares.
This is significant not just because Abbas’s fomenting of violence and paeans to those who try to kill Jews is despicable. It is important because it is part of a pattern by which the U.S. and even some Israelis become so attached to both a Palestinian leader and the concept of negotiations with him that they decide to ignore what he is doing or his ultimate goals.PA's Prime Minister: We'll Fight Israel's 'Judaization'
This was the same routine practiced by the Clinton administration throughout the post-Oslo years in the 1990s when Abbas’s predecessor Yasir Arafat also sought to stoke hatred of Jews and Israelis and supported terror. When critics of the Oslo process brought up evidence of Arafat’s actions they were dismissed as enemies of peace. Any attention paid to Arafat’s “flaws” was considered to be a distraction from the need to concentrate on advancing peace negotiations. The result was that rather than being a model of Palestinian government building a future of peace, the PA Arafat built, including its schools and media, was an engine of hate and violence. Peace became even less likely. That became apparent after Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak proposed giving the Palestinians a state and independence in almost all of the West Bank, Gaza, and Jerusalem, when Arafat rejected the offer and answered it with a terrorist war of attrition known as the Second Intifada.
Less than a week after being allowed by Israel to pray on the Temple Mount, the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) Prime Minister, Rami Hamdallah, on Monday threatened Israel against “Judaizing” Jerusalem.The Guardian: Temple Mount “Also a Sacred Spot for Jews”
Speaking in Hevron, Hamdallah said that the PA government will provide assistance to Palestinian Arab farmers and “protect their land against Israel's settlement activities.”
Hamdallah added that the PA will not allow Israel’s land expropriation, Judaization of Jerusalem and the removal of the Arab character.
He further said that the PA’s policy will continue to be based on strengthening its presence in “the territory of the Palestinian people” and on its ability to resist the “occupation.”
There’s been plenty of descriptions of the Temple Mount in recent days with media outlets weighing up the relative importance of the site to both Jews and Muslims.Flagging Temple Mount Fauxtography
While journalist Kate Shuttleworth at least includes the fact that the Temple Mount was the site of two Jewish temples, it isn’t “also a sacred spot for Jews,” it’s Judaism’s holiest site and this deserves to be plainly stated, particularly if the site is also referred to as Islam’s third holiest.
It’s time that The Guardian (and others) stop diminishing the importance of the Temple Mount for Jews.
If you didn’t know better, you’d think this photo in the Los Angeles Times shows the Israeli flag provocatively flying over the Dome of the Rock.Hate Crime in Scotland
"Seen from Mount Scopus, the distinctive golden Dome of the Rock, one of Islam’s holiest sites, stands out in Jerusalem’s walled Old City on Nov. 3. (Jim Hollander / EPA)"
Fortunately, photographer Jim Hollander wrote a fuller caption explaining what you’re seeing at the European Press Association web site. But how many LA Times readers bother clicking there?
"Seen from Mount Scopus the distinctive golden Dome of the Rock, one of Islam’s holiest sites, in Jerusalem’s walled on city stands out as sun hits it during an otherwise grey and rainy day, 03 November 2014. Behind the dome is a very large Israeli flag flying from the roof of an apartment building in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City. Jordan’s King Abdullah vowed that Jordan would oppose any attempt by Israel to change the status quo of the holy sites in Jerusalem, and particularly on the Temple Mount, or the Hareem el-Sharif (The Noble Sanctuary). The King said, ‘The ground in Jerusalem is soaked with the blood of our dead. The holy city has been entrusted to us.’ EPA/JIM HOLLANDER"
A Greek teenager was attacked in a booth in Glasgow’s St Enoch Centre, for daring to sell Israeli cosmetics. Iona Georgianna, 18, was working in the Kedem outlet on October 25.when a burning chemical was thrown at her by a gang of youthsUCLA Divestment. Its not about the "occupation"
Police said the incident was being investigated as “racist” and an investigation was taking place.
Fresh from its failure last year, UCLA divest begins again.Everything you need to know about SodaStream’s move
Just so you are sure what they mean when they say they are against the "Occupation", check out their logo.
Yes, all of Israel, from the "River to the Sea" is considered occupied by the divestment extremists.
What are protest groups saying about the move?Kent St. Professor: 'There is But One Path to Liberation—Daily Blows Against the Empire'
They have praised the decision … but they’re still boycotting SodaStream. Activists say that the Mishor Adumim factory’s closure is evidence that the BDS movement, which aims to boycott, divest from and sanction Israel, is working.
“Today’s news is just the latest sign that these global BDS campaigns are having an impact on changing the behavior of companies that profit from Israeli occupation and apartheid,” said Ramah Kudaimi, membership and outreach coordinator for the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, which represents 400 organizations.
But Kudaimi’s group, as well as the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee, say they will continue to boycott SodaStream because they claim its new factory abets dispossession of Bedouin land in Israel, even though the factory will be in an existing industrial park.
A Kent State University professor has resigned from the editorial board of an academic journal following Watchdog’s publication of a letter in which he accused pro-Israel academics of being “directly responsible for the murder of over 1,400 Palestinian children, women and elderly civilians.”Divest petition launch disrupted
In an unsolicited Nov. 2 email to Watchdog.org (full text below), associate professor Julio Pino, also known by his Muslim name Assad Jibril Pino, said his fellow editors at Latin American Perspectives have demanded that he apologize and publicly retract his remarks, published in Watchdog’s Aug. 6 and Aug. 13 articles.
In response, Pino attacked the journal and resigned.
The event, which was held at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) building, was almost cut short due to an unforeseen disruption by the Jewish Defence League (JDL), an off-campus group with no official affiliation on campus.Saudi man barred from travel after visiting synagogue in Egypt
The Divestment Campaign petitions U of T to stop investing money in companies they believe to be complicit in international war crimes, specifically in the conflict between Israel and Palestine.
According to the campaign, the university invests $3,777,326 in three allegedly complicit companies: Hewlett Packard, Northrup Grumman, and Lockheed Martin.
A Saudi man is still barred from traveling a year after he visited an Egyptian synagogue.Overwhelming majority of Turks dislike Israel, poll shows
“We visited a synagogue called ‘Hashamayim’,” during a tourist visit, the man told the London-based Arab daily Al-Hayat in a report published online on Saturday, referring to the Cairo based Sha’ar Hashamayim (Gate of Heaven) Synagogue, which is also known as the Adly Street Synagogue.
“We asked those responsible for the temple if there was a possibility of taking copies of the Torah in Arabic,” said the unidentified Saudi, adding that they asked questions about Judaism.
The man recounted that after returning to Saudi Arabia for some time, he decided to travel to one of the other Gulf states, but was informed at the port of exit that he was banned from traveling. He was told that the reason for the ban was because he had entered a synagogue.
The authorities then asked him, “Are you a Jew? Would you like to visit Israel?”
The study, released Friday, found that 86 percent of Turkish people polled held unfavorable views toward the Jewish state, while just 2% said they had a positive view. The survey reflected the views of people polled in 2013. At the same time, however, 80% of Turks said they thought poorly of Hamas, the organization that rules the Gaza Strip and fought a 50-day war with Israel over the summer.New York Halloween Reveler Seen Dressed as Nazi, Baby Clad in Concentration Camp Garb
Ties between Israel and Turkey have grown increasingly fraught over the last five years, as the sides have squabbled over Jerusalem’s treatment of the Palestinians and Ankara’s support of Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
A family in New York City was seen wearing Nazi-themed costumes on Halloween, with the father dressed as a Nazi officer and a young child as a concentration camp victim, Gothamist reported on Saturday.Fifty Bnei Menashe Make Aliyah from India to Israel
“I’m still disturbed from seeing this one last night: a family dressed up as a Nazi soldier, his Aryan race wife, and baby in a concentration camp uniform,” Marla S. told the local blog of the family, whom she photographed in Times Square at around 11:30 p.m. on Friday night. “Not sure if you have a list for the most f’ed up costumes, but I think this takes the prize… It’s such a messed up costume (for a family no less) that I needed to share.”
Fifty Bnei Menashe immigrants made Aliyah from India to Israel on Tuesday, bringing the total number of community members to make Aliyah in 2014 to 500 - the most ever.Music Superstar Will.i.am in Israel to Develop Smartwatch
Another 200 are slated to arrive by the end of November.
The Bnei Menashe claim descent from the tribe of Menashe (or Manasseh), one of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel which were exiled by the Assyrian empire after the death of King Solomon more than 2,700 years ago.
The immigrants were brought to Israel by Shavei Israel, which received permission from the Israeli government last October to bring 900 Bnei Menashe to the Jewish state by 2015.
At a time when some international artists have condemned Israel, Will.i.am (William Adams) of Grammy-winning The Black Eyed Peas fame is developing a smartwatch with Israeli hi-tech companies - and he arrived on Sunday for a hushed-up visit around the project.Hall of Jewish wisdom to highlight ‘crucial’ role of Jewish people in history
Will.i.am, who has produced music for Justin Bieber, Britney Spears and many other famous music stars touched down in Israel to discuss the launching of a new application for his device - termed the Puls - with Israeli businessman Ron Zuckerman, reports Walla!.
The device, which features a rounded shape and a bold thicker design than similar smartwatches coming out, also features a sim card for use as a cell phone.
The city of Yavne, once the home of the Sanhedrin, will soon host a “hall of wisdom of the Jewish people” showcasing the Jews’ contributions to mankind’s intellectual development.
Its launch will be officially announced at next week’s General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America in Washington.
The organizers of the new hall played up Yavne as the “historic seat of the Sanhedrin,” the chief rabbinic legislative body of the First Jewish Commonwealth, for 70 years.
It was reconstituted there following the destruction of the Second Temple in 70CE.
The work of the Jewish sages in Yavne following the destruction was critical in transitioning Judaism to a form that could survive in exile.
The hall, organizers stated, will highlight Jews throughout history whose oeuvre significantly enriched humanity and “created a noticeable change in society as a whole.”
